Even in a strong wind, what is probably India’s largest hoisted flag that was recently raised over the heart of New Delhi, doesn’t flutter in the breeze, it lollops as if barely able to stay aloft.

The Indian tricolor currently doing its best to fly over Connaught Place measures 5,400 square feet – enough to cover half an Olympic-sized swimming pool -- and was put up by the Flag Foundation of India, a Delhi-based nonprofit set up by Indian steel magnate Naveen Jindal to encourage Indians to be proud to fly the national flag.

The 35 kilogram flag is hoisted on a 207-foot pole and the Flag Foundation had to apply for special permission to break India’s Flag Code and keep it raised over night.

Yes, India has a Flag Code. The set of government-issued instructions govern the proper display of the national flag and mandate that flags be lowered “slowly and ceremoniously” after the sun set and not raised again until dawn.

The flag in the heart of India's capital city after it was hoisted on Mar. 7.

European Pressphoto Agency

The thinking behind the rule, says K.V. Singh, a 73-year-old retired naval officer who is Mr. Jindal’s Flag promoter-in-chief, is that the national standard is “a sacred symbol” and should not be exposed to “negative nocturnal powers.”

A typical flag pole elevated to a measure of 18 to 20 feet allows the flag to be unfurled and lowered in less than a minute, Mr. Jindal pointed out to the ministry.

People held the tricolor before it was officially hoisted on Mar. 7.

Associated Press

For mammoth flags on lofty poles, however, this manual process not only needs to be remote-controlled, but is also much more laborious and time-consuming.

In the letter, Mr. Jindal also drew attention to a clause in the 1950 flag code which said that the tricolor may be flown on public buildings at night “on very special occasions.”

He then asked for the ministry to issue directives to allow the national flag to be flown at all hours.

Six months later, the ministry responded doing exactly that, with two provisos: that the flags be properly illuminated at night with backup in case of a power failure and that the flags immediately be replaced if damaged by weather conditions.

The flag in Delhi’s Connaught Place is lit with four 2,000 Watt lights.

“But it is a matter of not taking things for granted,” Mr. Singh added.

Despite the flag’s massive dimensions –60 feet by 90 feet - it doesn’t come close to the world’s largest flying flag. That, according to the Guinness World Records, was hoisted in Mexico in 2011, measuring 113 feet by 197 feet.

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